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Sound Transit isn't King County. Sound Transit encompasses part of King County and part of its board are elected officials from King, but they are two separate

Sound Transit isn't King County. Sound Transit encompasses part of King County and part of its board are elected officials from King, but they are two separate government entities. And it's not that ST can't override Kirkland, it's that it won't override Kirkland. Pissing off a huge constituency of voters is a great way to ensure that not only they vote against, say, Sound Transit 3, they go out of their way to ensure that other people vote against it. As for buying the tracks, there's no obligation for a freight railroad to sell and virtually none will because once that ROW is gone it will never come back. As for quantity of trains, there only has to be one sometime, someday. Look at all of the pushback the immeasurably tiny Ballard Terminal Railroad has done to stop these kinds of projects.

WalterBright 8y ago
> there's no obligation for a freight railroad to sell That's why the government has the power of eminent domain. Besides, King County already owns it: https://www.kingcounty.gov/services/parks-recreation/parks/trails/regional-trails/popular-trails/eastside-rail-corridor.aspx https://www.kingcounty.gov/services/parks-recreation/parks/t...
- stephengillie 8y ago
  > Besides, King County already owns it: It's the first line of the comment to which you're replying: > Sound Transit isn't King County.
tjr225 8y ago
> And it's not that ST can't override Kirkland, it's that it won't override Kirkland. Pissing off a huge constituency of voters is a great way to ensure that not only they vote against, say, Sound Transit 3, they go out of their way to ensure that other people vote against it. Honestly, who cares. These are the same people who are going to vote against it, and go out of their way to ensure that other people vote against it anyway. At some point we have to stop letting a few people with the most money and the loudest mouthpieces run the entire region into the ground.

WalterBright 8y ago

> there's no obligation for a freight railroad to sell That's why the government has the power of eminent domain. Besides, King County already owns it: https://www.kingcounty.gov/services/parks-recreation/parks/trails/regional-trails/popular-trails/eastside-rail-corridor.aspx https://www.kingcounty.gov/services/parks-recreation/parks/t...

stephengillie 8y ago
> Besides, King County already owns it: It's the first line of the comment to which you're replying: > Sound Transit isn't King County.

tjr225 8y ago

> And it's not that ST can't override Kirkland, it's that it won't override Kirkland. Pissing off a huge constituency of voters is a great way to ensure that not only they vote against, say, Sound Transit 3, they go out of their way to ensure that other people vote against it. Honestly, who cares. These are the same people who are going to vote against it, and go out of their way to ensure that other people vote against it anyway. At some point we have to stop letting a few people with the most money and the loudest mouthpieces run the entire region into the ground.